The Hindu : Front Page : Sharmila replaces Anupam Kher

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 14, 2004

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Front Page

Sharmila replaces Anupam Kher

By Our Special Correspondent

Sharmila Tagore

NEW DELHI, OCT. 13. After failing to secure the resignation of the Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Anupam Kher, the Government today appointed leading actress of the yesteryear, Sharmila Tagore, as its Chairperson.

With Mr. Kher ``refusing to step down'', the Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry, also secured a ``charge report'' from Ms. Tagore as per which she assumed charge of the ``post of Chairperson, CBFC, Mumbai, in the afternoon.''

The Ministry's order said Ms. Tagore was being appointed ``in supersession of order dated October 11, 2003, and in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 (37 of 1952) read with rule 3 of the Cinematograph (Certification) rules, 1983.'' She has been appointed in an ``honorary capacity'' for a period of three years ``or until further orders'' from the day of taking charge.

The Ministry also issued a notification to this effect on the same day and secured the ``charge report'' from Ms. Tagore on the CBFC, Mumbai, letterhead. Since the actress was unable to go to Mumbai to take charge, her `charge report' cites New Delhi as the ``camp''. Also, the CBFC — which used to be listed among the autonomous organisations under the Ministry in its official website — has been put on its list of media units.

`I will not step down'

Talking to The Hindu from Mumbai this evening, Mr. Kher said: ``I will not step down. In their political game, they cannot make scapegoats of people like me.''

Narrating the sequence of events, he said: ``The I&B Secretary, Navin B. Chawla, called me on Tuesday and asked me to step down because of a demand to this effect from the `Left parties'. When I told him that I would not oblige, he said he would get back to me within a few minutes but has not done so till now.''

As for his future course of action, Mr. Kher said he would spell out his plans at a press conference in the Capital on Thursday. Mr. Kher's is the first head to roll in the I&B Ministry under the new dispensation though it had removed Deepak Chaurasia — appointed a consultant with Doordarshan News by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) — soon after taking charge.

In his lead article titled `Desaffronise Our Institutions' in the last edition of People's Democracy — the party organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) — the party's general secretary, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, had listed Mr. Kher as one of the ``RSS Men Still in Key Positions''.

Ministry denial

Meanwhile, Ministry officials denied that the decision was dictated by political compulsions.

Anupam Kher

The Ministry's argument is that Mr. Kher had been replaced because he was unable to give full attention to his charge owing to preoccupations with film and theatre.

Reacting to Mr. Kher's removal, the Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary, Arun Jaitley, said the Government had set a new record in its "policy of vendetta."

Stating that some issues should not be guided by ideology or party labels, he said Mr. Kher cannot be identified with any one group.

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